What we do

Our business is founded on water and the water cycle - it’s the most basic and vital of our natural resources.

This is why we’re passionate about supporting your health and wellbeing, encouraging growth and prosperity in our region and helping to future-proof it against the challenges of climate change and a growing population.

Safe, world-class drinking water

We borrow water from the environment, store and treat it to world-class standards so it’s safe to drink and then supply it to 4.3 million of you in towns and villages from Grimsby in the north east of our region to Milton Keynes in the south-west.

Great stuff in, great stuff out

Our drinking water is among the best on the planet. In the last five years we’ve invested £100 million in drinking water quality, hitting some of the most stringent targets in the world. We focus on quality across our operations, and are the only company in our industry to achieve ISO standards for excellence in quality, environment and health and safety.

Keep it clean

About a billion litres of used water is flushed and poured into our sewers each day. It’s then delivered via 76,355 kilometres of pipes to over 1,000 water recycling works, where with the help of a few billion friendly bacteria and micro-organisms, we clean it up before passing it back to nature. Our rivers are cleaner than they’ve been for decades.

We treat and make safe the organic solids – sludge – which farmers use as a soil conditioner.

Sparkling water and green open spaces

There’s a growing role for us too in our region’s wider well-being as millions of visitors annually enjoy the open spaces, outdoor pursuits and wildlife habitats in our water parks and reservoirs.

Protecting biodiversity

We also play a leading and vital role in protecting our region’s biodiversity, protecting not only the health of people, but the environment where we all live and work.